A Qualitative Exploration of Athletic Identity Formation among High School Student Athletes in Changsha, China

Abstract

This study explored how high school student-athletes describe their experiences of structural athletic identity through interactions with peers, parents, teachers, and coaches. This research adopts a qualitative case study approach. Data will be collected through a series of semi-structured interviews, and a focus groups discussion. Altogether fifteen individuals participated within the study consisted of three student-athletes, three peers, three parents, three teachers and three coaches from a number of urban high schools in Changsha, China. Themes, that were identified within the data, were analyzed using thematic analysis. Furthermore, triangulation was used across the different participant groups in order to increase the credibility, trustworthiness and depth of the findings. The findings produced six main themes and fourteen sub-themes, revealing that student-athletes’ structural identities were shaped by expectations, interactions, and relationships within their social environments. Major themes identified included the influence of peer acceptance and group norms, parental expectations and support, teacher recognition and institutional expectations, the coaching culture and athletic role, social belonging and finally the student-athlete’s attempts to balance their academic and athletic lives. Study findings supported and extended these issues by highlighting further the struggles that student-athletes experience in trying to manage the demands of study and sport, often with the added influence of significant others on their lives. The athlete’s identity was seen to be socially constructed through a variety of significant others. Student-athletes’ identities were seen to be developed and negotiated in their interactions with these significant others and was affected by the degree of support that they received from them in terms of their academic and athletic endeavors. The results of the present study showed that the need for positive identity development is supported by collaborative systems of school, family and sport. Further research into the Athletic Identity of student-athletes from around the world, different sports and educational systems using a longitudinal design or a mixed-methods could provide more in-depth information about the identity development of student-athletes at various stages of their lives.